them all and lastly, through the operation of his Holy Spirit, a moral sense of right and wrong, accompanied with a portion of quickening and redeeming power, is implanted in them universally. Here, then, we may perceive grounds of union and brotherly kindness co-extensive with the whole word; and whilst we cultivate a sense of these animating truths, we shall be disposed neither to think too highly of ourselves, nor to despise others. On the contrary, a feeling of true charity towards our neighbour, of whatever colour or country, will spread in our hearts; and a lively disposition will arise in us to labour for the happiness of that universal family who not only owe their existence to the same Creator, but are the common objects of his paternal regard and of his redeeming love." Observations, p. 18.

It is added:

"While I am persuaded of the existence of these broad grounds of union; while I am well satisfied in the conviction that there is bestowed upon all men that moral sense and that measure of a quickening influence of which I have spoken; and while, lastly, I am convinced that such a sense and such an influence can be justly attributed only to the eternal Spirit of the Lord,-I am very far from forming a low estimate of the sinfulness and degradation of the heathen world." Observations, p. 19.

The second head is thus concluded:

"Such then are the religious privileges which appear to distinguish, from mankind in general, the members of the true visible church of Christ; and which, as it relates to them, are universal. They are in a peculiar manner brought out of darkness into marvellous light-they experience the exceeding greatness of the power of God revealed in Christ for their salvation-they are cheered by a prospect of immortal joy clearly manifested to them by the gospel; and in a pre-eminent degree they are brought into spiritual fellowship one with another." Observations, p. 25.

Chapter II. is on religious peculiarities, and on those of the Society of Friends in general. After ascribing the diversity which subsists among Christians, respecting secondary matters, to the weakness and imperfection of mankind; and shewing that they are over-ruled by a merciful Providence to the purposes of moral discipline, Mr. Gurney considers, that "the particular sentiments and practices which distinguish respectively the different classes of true Christians may be denominated religious peculiarities." With respect to these, it is added, St. Paul teaches that one should not uncharitably judge another, and that each one should "prove all things," and be fully persuaded in his own mind of the superiority of the standard which he adopts. Mr. G. here expresses his belief" that there are few persons accustomed to a comprehensive view of the

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whole militant Church, and of the course which true religion is taking among mankind, who will be disposed to deny that the situation occupied in the body by the Society of Friends is one of considerable importance to the cause of righteousness." It is indeed but natural that it should be "the deliberate conviction" of Mr. Gurney's own mind, and of those who have imbibed his ideas, that such is the case, and that the peculiar principles of his Society are of an edifying tendency, and are calculated to promote the spiritual welfare, not only of Friends themselves but of the Church in general." But, surely, if these sentiments were as general as he supposes, the accession to the ranks of the Society would be much greater than is even pretended, and the secession not so frequent as it obviously is. We may be allowed to express our belief, in the most unqualified terms, that the moral conduct which is ascribed to Quakers in general proceeds not from their strict adherence to the " culiarities" of the sect, but from their conscientious conformity with those Christian principles which they hold in common with all sincere members of Christ's Catholic Church. We speak not from mere conjecture or from hear-say, but from personal acquaintance with the character of some most estimable men,' who are, according to the common phrase, "stiff Quakers;' and from an intimate knowledge of some individuals of as sound sense and strong religious principle, as any whom we have the happiness to call our friends, who have renounced the communion in which they were born, and have been baptized into that Church, whose apostolical constitution they have seen reason to prefer, and of which they are now numbered among the ornaments and most firm supporters.

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Chapter III." on the perceptible influence and guidance of the Spirit of Truth" is really by far the most important portion of the work-it is the key-stone of the arch erected by the Friends and if it be sound, we need not hesitate to admit that the entire theological structure which rests upon it, is likewise not only sound, but transcendantly beautiful. On the other hand, we must maintain, that if it be composed of friable materials, which are liable to be reduced under the pressure of fair argument, then however just the proportions, or chaste the decoration, the arch must fail, and the fabric be dissolved. We confess, that we are much more inclined to stop for the purpose of pointing out what appear to us the fallacies and unauthorized assumptions of this chapter, than to follow our author through the train of consequences which are deduced from it, and systematized, as they were originally by George Fox, into the religious code of "the Society of Friends." This course,

however, would not be consistent with our determinations, nor, perhaps, quite equitable towards Mr. Gurney, who, in his Preface, requests "the reader to abstain from forming a final judgment of any particular section or chapter until the whole volume shall have passed under his review." Mr. G. thus sums up:

"Such are the tests and such are the fruits of the perceptible guidance of the Holy Spirit in the soul. In reverting to the course of argument adopted in the present disquisition, the reader will recollect that the doctrine of such perceptible guidance rests upon the authority of Scripture; being clearly declared by the prophet Jeremiah, by the apostles John and Paul, and by our Lord himself that the dictates of the Spirit, which lead into truth, are totally distinct from the dictates of the human imagination, which lead into enthusiasm ;-that the two principles are to be distinguished, first, by the mode of their operation, and, secondly, by the fruits which they produce-that the dictates of the Spirit operate in a gentle manner on the waiting and prostrate soulthat the fruits of the Spirit are the peaceable fruits of righteousness' —that these fruits afford a substantial evidence of the divine origin of that guiding principle which leads to the production of them—and, lastly, that this general argument is greatly strengthened when we come to trace some particular characteristics in the practical operation of the principle in question; for as it is closely followed, it is ever found to lead to the humiliation of men, and to the exaltation of Christ; to the denial of self, and to the bearing of the cross; to the increase of moral and spiritual light; to the confirmation and right application of the divine law as it is recorded in the Holy Scriptures, and to a very exact fulfilment of that law." Observations, p. 50.

We are next informed that the principal religious points which distinguish the "Society" are these: "Their disuse of all typical observances in the worship of God: their refusal to recognize any ministry in connexion with divine worship, which they do not conceive to be dictated by the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit: their acceptance to (of) the public ministry of females: their objection to human ordination, and also to the paying or hiring of preachers: their practice of silent worship; their abstaining from all warfare, and from the use of oaths: their plainness in speech, behaviour, and apparel." In the succeeding chapters, each of these subjects is separately discussed; and it is attempted to be shown that all these peculiarities" arise out of the principles of the divine law."

Chapter IV. " on the disuse of all typical rites in the wor ship of God," is designed principally to justify the rejection of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. It quotes, as the ground of this justification, an authority which seems to be much misinterpreted, on which, however, great stress is laid, and on which, indeed, the validity of the justification very

much depends. "The objection of Friends," says Mr. Gurney," to the use of these ordinances will be perceived to have its foundation in a principle of acknowledged importance, and one which is clearly revealed in the New Testament, that under the Christian dispensation the worship of God is not to be formal, ceremonial, or typical, but simply spiritual." Now this is palpably a petitio principii, and whatever argument rests upon such an assumption, must be inconclusive. It by no means follows, that because Christian worship is not to be merely formal, chiefly ceremonial, or avowedly typical, as was the Mosaic dispensation, that therefore it should be simply spiritual, that it should exclude all form, all ceremony, all type. We may call on the "Friends" to show any one period in the history of the Christian Church, between the time of the Apostles and the middle of the sixteenth century, in which such a construction as theirs was put on the inspired writings relative to this point; and if they cannot show it, we claim in our favour, and against them, all the weight that is allowed to general consent. We do not suppose that the inspirés of Germany, or the Malakans in South Russia, will be alleged as more than very questionable exceptions to the general rule-if they even be exceptions at all.

Mr. Gurney infers his doctrine from our blessed Lord's affirmation to the woman of Samaria, that" the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth," &c. The manner in which this is applied to the sacraments of the Church of England is as follows:

"Since therefore water-baptism was a Jewish ceremonial or typical observance: since, under the new dispensation, the plan of divine worship is changed, and all such observances are by a general law abolished: since, in precise conformity with that law, the doctrine of baptisms,' as unfolded in various passages of the New Testament, appears to attribute to christianity only the baptism of the Spirit: since that particular passage in which the outward rite is supposed to be enjoined upon Christians may, with the truest critical propriety, be otherwise explained: and since the example of the first preachers of christianity in favour of that ceremony arose out of peculiar circumstances, and was interrupted by two overpowering exceptions-I cannot but deem it undeniable that the Society of Friends are fully justified in their disuse of water-baptism." Observations, p. 93.

With regard to the Lord's Supper, the abstract is this:

"On a general review, then, of the particular passages of the New Testament which relate to the observance of the Lord's supper, I may venture to recapitulate my own sentiments, that such a practice has no

proper or necessary connexion with a spiritual feeding on the body and blood of Christ-that the history of our Lord's last paschal supper with his disciples, affords no reason for believing that he then instituted a religious ceremony, which was thenceforth to form an essential part of the worship of Christians-that our Lord's injunction on that occasion may be understood, either as relating solely to the rites of the Passover, or as intended to give a religious direction to the more common social repasts of his disciples-that it was in connexion with such repasts, and particularly with their love-feasts, that the primitive christians were accustomed to commemorate the death of Christ-that the custom of those love-feasts, however appropriate to the circumstances of the earliest disciples, soon fell into abuse as the number of believers increased, and appears to be, in a great degree, inapplicable to the present condition of the christian world—and lastly, that under the influence of the spiritual manifestations of our Redeemer, we may, without the bread and wine, participate in that true supper of the Lord, which he has himself so clearly upheld to the expectation of his disciples, and which alone is indispensable for the edification, consolation, and salvation of his people." Observations, p. 113.

Just after this occurs a sentence over which we cannot pass without observation, because though it be almost the only blot in Mr. Gurney's work, and we are persuaded that it was made without any intention of giving offence, it is one which requires to be noticed, and, if possible, obliterated. Speaking of the abuses of the sacraments as main objections to their acceptance, he says: "How often has the ignorant sinner, even in the hour of death, depended on the sacrament' of the Lord's Supper as upon a saving ordinance! And how many a learned theologian, both ancient and modern, has been forced to insist on the dangerous tenet, that the rite of Baptism is regeneration!" We defy Mr. Gurney to adduce a single instance of "a learned theologian's" having asserted that baptism is regeneration—in the sense in which he (Mr. G.) always uses the term. That regeneration, in the sense of a change from a state of wrath to a state of grace, accompanies the outward rite of baptism, when duly received, Mr. Gurney well knows is the tenet of the Church of England. It was not therefore consistent with his usual discretion to speak of it in the terms of reprehension above quoted, or to class it among "superstitions," four lines below.

Chapter V., "On the nature and character of the Christian Ministry," is thus recapitulated:

"In reviewing the principal particulars of the present chapter, the reader will observe that the influences of the Holy Spirit are both general and extraordinary-that the former effect our conversion and sanctification, and, as such, are essential to salvation and common to all the Lord's children-that the latter are not intended for the salvation of